


Hands of Time

by EuphoniousGlow



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Het, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-21
Updated: 2010-07-21
Packaged: 2017-10-10 17:09:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/102100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EuphoniousGlow/pseuds/EuphoniousGlow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He would see her true face.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hands of Time

Tsunade looks out on her village, and her heart fills with all that she sees. Children play with toy shuriken whose paper wings catch the wind and fly like birds across the sky. Teenage girls sit on a rooftop. Their hands will have callouses from their training by now. An elderly couple walks in quiet conversation, oblivious to the ever-quickening world around them.

This is her home, her village. She stands and looks out over Konoha, and it is the world of thirty years ago she sees, when she once walked the street with Dan, hand in hand and without the cares she now has.

There are footsteps behind her, and she knows it is him as she has always known.

"Today is your last day, isn't it?" he says, and his voice is quiet and solemn. She does not turn around. He always manages to see through her shields, anyway.

"Orochimaru is dead," she answers. "There is nothing more I can do for this village." She has memorized Jiraiya's face, knows every expression by his tone.

She hears him step closer, though he knows better than to attempt contact. Jiraiya may be a stubborn man, but not a stupid one. "You returned here from your exile, and now you leave when the people love you most?" The impatience in his voice is not surprising, but his words are.

"A Hokage is meant to be followed, never to be loved. I fulfilled my promise."

Jiraiya chuckles, a low throaty sound that she had become well-accustomed to. More than anything, it seemed to bring her back to the old days. "Promises?" he says. "Wasn't it your promise to your brother that kept you here?"

Finally she turns, though she does not look him in the eye. She fears what she would see reflected there. "They need someone to lead them through change and uncertainty, now that Sound has fallen. My eye is still toward the past." She falters, stares at her hands, which are smooth and lily-white. Jiraiya knows her better than anyone. She will let down her walls another inch, today.

But he surprises her, yet again. "Dan wouldn't want you to put your life on hold because of him. You heal other people and can't heal yourself."

She looks at his wrinkles, the wirey hair falling roughly over his forehead, the mole on his nose, and into his eyes, which are the only thing that has not changed. Through all the years, Jiraiya has been there.

She steps closer, and her mind is screaming to stop but she ignores it, ignores every reason she ever gave herself for why she could not love him. 

"Wait," he whispers gruffly, holding out a hand to stop her. Will he reject her now? "I want to see your true face, before you kiss me."

She lets her mask fall, feels the skin of her face twisting and stretching. Her hand is as textured as the bark of a tree.

"You're beautiful," he says, and kisses her. Outside, the last leaves of autumn are falling.


End file.
